“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”
Joseph Campbell
This past winter, my dear friend, Maria of MFD Style, called me. We basically talk on a daily basis. Over the years, I’ve shared with her my vision – I see me on stage reading my poetry, talking about delight. When she called me this time, she had some excitement in her voice, “Lisa, I was listening to this podcast and a woman was reading a spiritual text and it was so moving. And I thought, ‘ Lisa could do this!’ Lisa, your voice is so lovely. Your poetry is so beautiful. I know you’ve thought of doing a podcast before. I can really see you doing this. Maybe it’s time.”
As I listened to her and she listened to me, “Maria,” I told her, “then it has to be about delight. I can’t ignore it anymore. I have to come out and share about delight. But, but but…..”
Maria said, “Lisa, I’ve known you for over 20 years. And you’ve always been about delight. What if you just made your podcast about delight?!”
Tears started to well up in my eyes. The kind of tears that are like, “welcome home to yourself, baby. It’s been so long.”
It felt like homecoming.
You see, for many years, I have not come out and talked about delight – front and center. I was scared. I was scared that people would misunderstand me and think I’m too positive, pollyannish, and avoiding the messy reality of life. I didn’t know how to explain that the kind of delight I am about couldn’t be further from the truth.
The experience of delight I am about is of our essence. It is often covered over by hurtful experiences. And it is reclaimed as we do the messy (and painful) work of rising from those hurtful experiences.
Far from pollyannish, the kind of delight I am about (lines from a poem I am currently working on):
“…Delight is what arises when
you have been through hell –
the painful labor,
the long night awake with
your dying parent,
the stinging betrayal,
the heavy weight of depression,
the jittery panic of anxiety –
you’ve been in the pain,
the despair, the loneliness,
the hopelessness,
the grief –
and you didn’t run from it.
You turned toward it and
went through it…”
I’ve been through some painful times – starting in the sixth grade. I’ve felt the jittery panic of anxiety for most of my life. I felt the heavy weight of depression in my senior year of college. AND…through those experiences and with a lot of work, I have been reclaiming delight as my birthright. Delight is everyone’s birthright.
I’m not afraid anymore to talk about delight – front and center. And there is a deep peacefulness in me right now that feels like true alignment. Some great courage has risen in me. And I trust that as sacred – sent from the Divine — as if the Great Mother is saying, “It’s time.”
So, the “next right thing” to do (as my mom always has told me to do) is to bring you this podcast: Delightful.
Introducing Delightful – a podcast devoted to helping you follow what delights your heart and live a life you deeply love.
I will bring together science, psychology, spirituality, and creativity. You’ll hear me share poems, stories, insights, and practices to help you, too, connect with and claim your birthright to be delighted in your everyday life.
Our world could use this right now. Many of feel fragmented, frazzled, and disconnected. Our nervous systems are chronically stressed with all the pings and dings in our day. The “nervous system of the world” is in constant fight or flight. News, social media, and our digital addictions – with the constant barrage of pings, dings, and popups – reinforce this fragmented and disconnected feeling. We prize productivity and see taking delight in small everyday moments as frivolous – an afterthought.
And yet, right now, our world is changing. We’ve had some big stuff happen! So many of us are tired of doing things the way we’ve been doing them. We are questioning, “Is this really what I want?! Is this really what WE want as a family, community, workplace, and world?!”
We need experiences of warmth and connection. We need experiences that reconnect us to our hearts, bodies, this precious moment, and each other. We need experiences that take us out of fight or flight and even freeze – and in to rest and digest and safety and warmth. We need to be delighted again.
Delight is an embodied experience of connection.
“Delight is that soft joy you feel when someone you love says your name so sweetly,
that gentle hum of aliveness you experience looking at the sunset over the mountains,
that smile that comes across your face when your dog drops the ball at your feet to play,
that soulful celebration of being alive as you taste your favorite food sharing a meal with dear ones…”
-Lisa McCrohan, Delightful podcast, Episode 1
And I am so excited to FINALLY be talking more about DELIGHT! Most importantly, I am sharing POETIC EXPERIENCES with you for your nervous system to feel what it’s like to move out of stress mode and into “rest and digest” and “safety and warmth.” I am interested in helping you build your capacity to orient toward feeling grounded, settled, alive, purposeful, and nourished so you have resilience within you for when you do encounter stressful, messy, and painful experiences.
THAT is what DELIGHTFUL is all about.
In the first episode, I am getting personal and sharing more of my story. As the therapist and helper, this is hard for me! I’m used to hearing and holding space for OTHER people’s stories! But I kept hearing from close advisors about this podcast for me to share some of MYself and MY story with listeners. So I dug deep and I am sharing some vulnerable stories.
If you’d like to get in on supporting Delightful, I’d be so grateful. Here’s how you could help:
1. Listen to the trailer.
2. “Subscribe” to Delightful. Right now, it’s on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music
3. On Tuesday, please DOWNLOAD the first episode and listen! Download rates in the first few weeks of a new podcast make a huge difference in where it gets shown on the list of “suggested” for each platform. (I’ll send an email out on Tuesday!).
*(Update: Episodes 1 AND 2 are out!)
4. If something resonates with you, please share with your people – on social media or with family and friends who might get a kick out of Delightful.
5. Leave a review and a rating! I’d love your feedback – AND 5 star rating!
And finally,
6. Consider becoming a member of the Delightful Divas (and ANY human being can be a diva!). Through a site called Buy Me a Coffee, I have created a membership opportunity for those who are inspired to support the podcast. I didn’t know just how many hours it would take to develop and record content!
I cannot wait to accompany you and connect with you! I am so excited for you to listen to the podcast and be delighted.
The first episode comes out tomorrow, Tuesday, April 5.
Blessings,
